Stripe's valuation nearly doubles to $9.2 bln with latest funding

SAN FRANCISCO Nov 28 Digital payments company
Stripe Inc has raised a fresh round of funding that nearly
doubles its valuation to $9.2 billion, the company said on
Monday.

San Francisco-based Stripe raised $150 million in a funding
round that closed this week, said Chief Financial Officer Will
Gaybrick. The round brings the company's total fundraising to
$450 million.

After its previous funding round more than a year ago,
Stripe was valued at $5 billion. Its new valuation of $9.2
billion makes Stripe among the world's highest-valued 'fintech'
startups backed by venture capitalists.

Stripe facilitates online payments for companies and
organizations ranging from Target and Lyft to Twitter and the
Girl Scouts.

The funding round was co-led by CapitalG, the venture
capital arm of Alphabet Inc, and General
Catalyst, with participation from existing investors including
Sequoia Capital, Gaybrick said.

Separately, Stripe said on Monday it received a credit
facility from banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs
Group Inc, Morgan Stanley and Barclays Plc, but declined to
disclose the value.

The new financing comes as other fintech startups face a
cooling funding climate. The third quarter this year brought a
slump for North American fintech companies, with $900 million
invested across 96 deals, down from $2.8 billion across 118
deals in the third quarter last year, according to venture
capital database CB Insights.

Stripe, founded by brothers John and Patrick Collison in
2010, has raised less money than some of its fellow private tech
startups with similar valuations. Music company Spotify, for
instance, has raised about $1 billion for a $8.5 billion
valuation. Theranos, the beleaguered blood-testing company,
raised roughly $750 million for a $9 billion valuation.

But Stripe is growing globally, now in 25 countries, and
needs to hire workers and set up more offices as it competes
with PayPal Holdings Inc, Square Inc and other
more established payments players.

Stripe is also expanding its reach with a program called
Atlas, which allows young businesses in countries such as Cuba
and Turkey to incorporate and open a bank account in the United
States, and use Stripe to begin receiving payments over the
Internet.

The Wall Street Journal first reported news of the latest
funding round on Friday.
(Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Bill Rigby)

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